Screens for doors and windows are a conventional installation in every home and have been in use for many years. Screens allow for natural ventilation from outdoors while keeping insects and animals out. Many different models of ventilation screens have been developed, ranging from the familiar sliding screen door to the permanent burglar-proof wrought iron bars often found adorning the outside of many residential screened windows.
Today, breaking and entering into residential and business premises is all too common. It is necessary to augment the conventional types of locks, which skilled burglars can easily circumvent. Additional security is especially needed in the case of horizontally sliding glass and screen doors or windows of the types employed in many modern homes and apartments. During warm weather, it is desirable to open such doors or windows for ventilation; and even if a screen door is interposed in the opening, it can be readily and quietly cut and opened.
Numerous security systems have been devised in accordance with the prior art, such as various types of grills, window guards, and screens; but none of them is suitable for use with sliding glass doors or windows which are opened to a variety of open positions. Moreover, these security systems are either too expensive or cumbersome to install, or they have locks which are readily identifiable from the outside and easily removed by a skilled burglar having simple tools.
There is an increasing concern with crime and personal safety. In the past, screens served the purpose of keeping intruders from entering premises. In our present-day society a simple screen door will not suffice to keep out the evil-bent intruder. The present invention addresses the problem presented by insecure sliding doors and is particularly concerned with security arrangements for sliding screen doors.